Modular Networked Light Bulb

ABSTRACT

Various methods of manufacturing a lighting apparatus and embodiments of a modular networked lighting apparatus are disclosed. One method defines a mechanical form factor with a minimum set of electrical connections for a networking module, builds a subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus, the subassembly comprising attachment points compatible with the mechanical form factor for the networking module and contacts for the minimum set of electrical connections for the networking module, installs a networking module into the subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus, the networking module compatible with a selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus, completes the final assembly of the networked lighting module, and marks the networked lighting apparatus to indicate the selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus. In some embodiments, the lighting apparatus may function without the networking module installed. One embodiment of the modular, networked light bulb has means for supporting and holding an electronics module conforming with a predetermined form factor in place, and means for allowing the electronics module to control at least a brightness level of the at least one LED. The modular networked light bulb may have a networked controller conforming with the predetermined form factor used as the electronics module. The networked controller is able to connect to a network and may be positioned and held by the means for supporting and holding an electronics module.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. Appl. No. 61/254,709entitled “HYBRID LIGHT” filed on Oct. 25, 2009, the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present subject matter relates to LED lighting. It further relatesto a method of design and manufacture of networked LED light bulbs.

2. Description of Related Art

Providing home automation functionality using networking means is wellknown in the art. Control of lighting and appliances can be accomplishedusing systems from many different companies such as X10, Insteon® andEchelon.

In U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,954, inventors Lys and Mueller describe a smartlight bulb which may include a housing, an illumination source, disposedin the housing, and a processor, disposed in the housing, forcontrolling the illumination source. The housing may be configured tofit a conventional light fixture. The illumination source may be an LEDsystem or other illumination source. The processor may control theintensity or the color of the illumination source. The housing may alsohouse a transmitter and/or receiver. The smart light bulb may respond toa signal from another device or send a signal to another device. Theother device may be another smart light bulb or another device. They goon to describe a modular LED unit which may be designed to be either a“smart” or “dumb” unit. A smart unit, in one embodiment, includes amicroprocessor incorporated therein for controlling, for example, adesired illumination effect produced by the LEDs. The smart units maycommunicate with one another and/or with a master controller by way of anetwork formed through the mechanism for electrical connection describedabove. It should be appreciated that a smart unit can operate in astand-alone mode, and, if necessary, one smart unit may act as a mastercontroller for other modular LED units. A dumb unit, on the other hand,does not include a microprocessor and cannot communicate with other LEDunits. As a result, a dumb unit cannot operate in a stand-alone mode andrequires a separate master controller. The smart light bulb may beassociated with a wide variety of illumination applications andenvironments.

Ducharme et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,014,336, describe systems andmethods for generating and/or modulating illumination conditions togenerate high-quality light of a desired and controllable color, forcreating lighting fixtures for producing light in desirable andreproducible colors, and for modifying the color temperature or colorshade of light within a prespecified range after a lighting fixture isconstructed. In one embodiment, LED lighting units capable of generatinglight of a range of colors are used to provide light or supplementambient light to afford lighting conditions suitable for a wide range ofapplications. They go on to describe a networked lighting system. U.S.Pat. No. 7,651,245 invented by Thomas, et al., shows an LED lightfixture with internal power supply. They describe some embodiments wherea radio frequency control unit can receive commands from a centralizedcontroller, such as that provided by a local network, or from anothercontrol module positioned in a fixture in close proximity. Thus, therange of the lighting network could be extended via the relaying and/orrepeating of control commands between control units.

Neither Lys and Mueller, Ducharme et al. nor Thomas, et al. discuss theway that the networking function is included in the light. They also donot address how a single design might be able to address a plurality ofnetwork environments. A variety of different networks are being used forhome automation. So a need exists to easily be able to address differentnetworking requirements with a single overall networked light bulbdesign.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present subject matter disclose methods ofmanufacturing a lighting apparatus and embodiments of a modularnetworked lighting apparatus. One embodiment is a method comprisingdefining a mechanical form factor with a minimum set of electricalconnections for a networking module, building a subassembly of thenetworked lighting apparatus, the subassembly comprising attachmentpoints compatible with the mechanical form factor for the networkingmodule and contacts for the minimum set of electrical connections forthe networking module, installing a networking module into thesubassembly of the networked lighting apparatus and electricallyattaching the minimum set of electrical connections provided by thenetworking module to the contacts for the minimum set of electricalconnections on the subassembly, the networking module compatible with aselected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus,completing the final assembly of the networked lighting module, andmarking the networked lighting apparatus to indicate the selectednetworking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus. In someembodiments the lighting apparatus is a networked light bulb and inothers it is a networked light fixture. Some embodiments may include auser input device accessible to the user through an opening in an outercasing of the lighting apparatus. And some embodiments may select anetworking protocol using radio frequency communication. In someembodiments, the lighting apparatus may function without the networkingmodule installed.

One embodiment of the modular light emitting apparatus has a lightemitting device, a casing at least partially surrounding the lightemitting element and having a support structure able to position andhold an electronics module, the electronics module conforming with apredetermined form factor, at least two external electrical terminalssituated externally to the casing, and circuitry driving the lightemitting device, and a first and a second internal electrical contactaccessible to the electronics module if the electronics module ispositioned and held by the support structure the circuitry iselectrically connected to, and receives power from, the at least twoexternal electrical terminals. The circuitry is electrically connectedto the light emitting device, has at least one control input and atleast one electrical power output. The first internal contact iselectrically connected to the at least one electrical power output ofthe circuitry driving the light emitting device, and the second internalcontact is communicatively coupled to the at least one control input ofthe circuitry driving the light emitting device. In at least oneembodiment, the casing is substantially symmetric about an axis and thecasing is bulbous in shape at a distal end of the axis of symmetry withthe at least two external electrical terminals situated on an Edisonscrew fitting base attached to the casing and located at a proximal endof the axis of symmetry. The predetermined form factor of theelectronics module is substantially circular in shape in someembodiments. The modular light emitting apparatus may have a networkedcontroller is assembled into the modular light emitting apparatus as theelectronics module. The networked controller positioned and held by thesupport structure, receiving power from the first internal contact, ableto connect to a network, and electrically connected to the secondinternal contact so that the networked controller is able to control anaspect of the operation of the circuitry driving the light emittingdevice. The modular light emitting apparatus may be marked so that auser can ascertain a network protocol for the network. In someembodiments, the networked controller supports a network protocolutilizing radio frequency communication. In some embodiments, thenetwork controller includes a controller, a network adapter, a circuitboard, and a user input device communicatively connected to thecontroller and accessible to the user through an opening in the casingof the modular light emitting apparatus. In some cases the circuit boardmay be substantially circular in shape. In some embodiments the casingis substantially the same size and shape as a typical incandescent lightbulb and the at least two external electrical terminals are situated onan Edison screw fitting base attached to the casing.

Another embodiment of the modular, networked light bulb comprises atleast one LED, means for connecting to an AC power source, means forconverting AC power to DC power, means for driving the at least one LED,means for supporting and holding an electronics module conforming with apredetermined form factor in place, and means for allowing theelectronics module to control at least a brightness level of the atleast one LED. The modular networked light bulb may have a networkedcontroller conforming with the predetermined form factor used as theelectronics module. The networked controller is able to connect to anetwork and may be positioned and held by the means for supporting andholding an electronics module. It may use the means for allowing theelectronics module to control at least a brightness level of the atleast one LED to control the brightness level of the at least one LED.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute partof the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention.Together with the general description, the drawings serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a stylized view of a home with a plurality of networkedhome automation devices;

FIG. 2 a block diagram view of a network of home automation devices;

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a modular networked light bulb;

FIGS. 3C and 3D show a non-networked light bulb utilizing portions ofthe modular networked light bulb;

FIG. 3E shows a cross-section of a partially assembled networked lightbulb;

FIG. 3F shows a top view of a partially assembled networked light bulb;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the electronics utilized in oneembodiment of the modular networked light bulb;

FIG. 5 shows mechanical designs for two printed circuit boards of oneembodiment of a modular networked light bulb;

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B shows a schematic for an LED driver board for amodular networked light bulb;

FIG. 7 a schematic for an LED board for a modular networked light bulb;

FIGS. 8A and 8B show schematics for two different embodiments of anetworked controller board for a modular networked light bulb;

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart diagram for a manufacturing process for amodular networked light bulb.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram for an alternative embodiment of a modularnetworked light bulb; and

FIG. 11 shows a ventilation scheme for a modular networked light bulb.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilledin the art that the present teachings may be practiced without suchdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures andcomponents have been described at a relatively high-level, withoutdetail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentconcepts. A number of descriptive terms and phrases are used indescribing the various embodiments of this disclosure. These descriptiveterms and phrases are used to convey a generally agreed upon meaning tothose skilled in the art unless a different definition is given in thisspecification. Some descriptive terms and phrases are presented in thefollowing paragraphs for clarity.

The term “LED” refers to a diode that emits light, whether visible,ultraviolet, or infrared, and whether coherent or incoherent. The termas used herein includes incoherent polymer-encased semiconductor devicesmarketed as “LEDs”, whether of the conventional or super-radiantvariety. The term as used herein also includes organic LEDs (OLED),semiconductor laser diodes and diodes that are not polymer-encased. Italso includes LEDs that include a phosphor or nanocrystals to changetheir spectral output.

The term “network” refers to a bidirectional communication medium andprotocol to allow a plurality of devices to communicate with each other.

The term “networked device” refers to any device that can communicateover a network.

The terms “networked light fixture”, “networked lighting apparatus” and“networked light bulb” all refer to a networked device capable ofemitting light. While there are subtle differences in the generallyagreed upon embodiments for these terms, they may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure unless additional detail is providedto indicate that a specific embodiment is being discussed.

Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and discussed below.

FIG. 1 shows a stylized view of a home 100 with a plurality of homenetworked devices 111-127. In the embodiment shown, the networkeddevices communicate over a wireless mesh network such as Z-wave orZigbee (IEEE 802.15.4). Other wireless networks such as Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11) might be used in a different embodiment. In other embodiments, apower line network such as X10 or HomePlug. In additional embodiments, awired network could be used such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3). In otherembodiments, an optical network might be employed and some embodimentsmay utilize a heterogeneous network with multiple types of networks.This exemplary home has five rooms. The kitchen 101 has a networkedlight fixture 111, a networked coffee maker 121 and an networkedrefrigerator 123. The bedroom 102 has a networked light fixture 112, anda networked clock radio 122. The hallway 130 has a networked light bulb113. The home office 104 has a networked light fixture 114, a networkcontroller 120, and a home computer 140 connected to a network gateway124. The living room 105 has two networked light fixtures 115, 116 and anetworked television 125. External to the home is a networked floodlight117 and a networked electric meter 126. Homeowner 106 is returning toher home with a networked remote control 127 and decides to turn on anetworked floodlight 117 to light her way.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram view of the automated home 100 showing onlythose devices involved with this particular instance of turning on thenetworked floodlight 117. The network 130 in this embodiment is awireless mesh network meaning that individual devices can communicatewith each other and that messages may be passed between intermediatedevices to be able to reach its intended destination. In some cases, amessage may be passed to a central network controller for processing butin other cases, a message may pass from an initiating device directly toa target device without involving the network controller. In theparticular instance where the homeowner 106 presses a button 127 u onthe remote control 127, a controller 127 c within the remote control 127interprets the button press and creates a network message describing thetask being requested. In this embodiment, the network message needs tobe routed through the network controller 120 so the message created bythe remote control controller 127 c sets that up as the target of themessage and passes the message to the network adapter 127 n of theremote control 127. The network adapter 127 n is unable to send themessage directly to the network controller 120 so it sends a radiofrequency network message 131 to the nearest networked device that iswithin range, is currently powered on, and has the capability to routethe message 131 to another networked device to get it to the networkcontroller 120. In this case, the coffee maker 121 happens to be off andthe refrigerator 123 does not happen to have routing capability, so theradio frequency message 131 is accepted by the network adapter 111 n ofnetworked light fixture 111. The controller 116 n in the networked lightfixture 111 determines that the message 131 is not intended to turn onits LEDs 116 b and it needs to be routed to the network controller 120but the networked light fixture 111 and the network controller 120 arenot able to directly communicate due to distance or interference so thecontroller 111 c uses network adapter 111 n to pass the message 131 tonetworked light bulb 113 as radio frequency message 132. The networkadapter 113 n and controller 113 c determine that the message is notmeant to turn on the LEDs 113 b in the networked light bulb 113, and itis able to directly communicate with the network controller 120, so thecontroller 113 c uses the network adapter 113 n to send a radiofrequency message 133 to the network controller 120.

The network adapter 102 n of the network controller 120 accepts themessage 133 and passes it to the controller 120 c. It then interpretsthe command which may have multiple functions to perform such asadjusting the temperature of the home, disarming an alarm or otherfunctions that are not specified here. But one function that is requiredis to turn on floodlight 117. So the controller 120 c creates a messagetelling the floodlight 117 to turn on and has the network adapter 120 nsends it to the light fixture 116 because the floodlight 117 is out ofrange of the network controller 120. So the message is passed to thelight fixture 116 using its network adapter 116 n and controller 116 cand without turning on its light 116 b. The light fixture 116 is withincommunication range of the floodlight 117 so it send the message to thefloodlight 117. The network adapter 117 n receives the message andpasses it to the controller 117 c which interprets the message and turnson the light 117 b so that the homeowner 106 can find her way to thedoor.

FIG. 3A shows a front view (with inner structure not shown) and FIG. 3Bshows a side view (with selected inner structure shown in broken lines)of a modular networked light bulb 300. In this embodiment a networkedlight bulb 300 is shown but other embodiments of the present subjectmatter could be a permanently installed light fixture with a socket fora standard light bulb, or a light fixture with embedded LEDs or anyother sort of light emitting apparatus. The light bulb 300 is AC poweredbut other embodiments could be battery powered or solar powered. Thenetworked light bulb 300 of this embodiment has a base with a powercontact 301 and a neutral contact 302, a middle housing 303 and an outerbulb 304. Each section 301, 302, 303, 304 can be made of a single pieceof material or be assembled from multiple component pieces. In someembodiments, the power contact 301 and the neutral contact 302 aresituated on an Edison screw fitting base as shown in FIG. 3 to allow thelight bulb to be screwed into a standard light socket. The outer bulb304 is at least partially transparent and may have ventilation openingsin some embodiments, but the other sections 301, 302, 303 can be anycolor or transparency and be made from any suitable material. The middlehousing 303 has an indentation 305 with a slot 306 and an aperture 307.A color wheel 221 is attached to the shaft of rotary switch 206 which ismounted on a networked controller circuit board 207. The networkedcontroller circuit board 207 with the color wheel 221 is mountedhorizontally so that the edge 202 of the color wheel protrudes throughthe slot 306 of the middle housing 303. This allows the user to apply arotational force to the color wheel 221. As the color wheel 221 rotates,different sections of the colored area of the color wheel 221 arevisible through an aperture 307. In FIG. 3, the current position of thecolor wheel 221 is such the color section with color 4 is visiblethrough the aperture 307, indicating that the user has selected color 4at this time. The color selection mechanism 428 may be designed toprovide a detent at each section of the colored area to make it clearwhat color is currently selected.

In this embodiment, a LED driver circuit board 310 is mounted verticallyin the base of the networked light bulb 300. A board-to-board connection311 is provided to connect selected electrical signals between the twocircuit boards 207, 310. A LED board 314 has a plurality of LEDs 313mounted on it and is backed by a heat sink 315 to cool the plurality ofLEDs 313. In some embodiments the LED board 314 with a plurality of LEDs313 may be replaced by a single multi-die LED package or a single highoutput LED. In some embodiments the heat sink 315 may not be needed orcould be a completely different configuration than what is shown. Acable 312 connects the networked controller circuit board 207 with theLED board 314. The cable 312 carries the power for the plurality of LEDs313. In some embodiments it may be connect the LED driver circuit board310 directly to the LED board 314 instead of passing the signals throughthe networked controller circuit board 207.

FIG. 3C shows a front view (with inner structure not shown) and 3D showsa side view (with selected inner structure shown in broken lines) of anon-networked light bulb 320 utilizing portions of the modular networkedlight bulb 300. The light bulb 320 is AC powered but other embodimentscould be battery powered or solar powered. The networked light bulb 320of this embodiment has a base with a power contact 301 and a neutralcontact 302, a middle housing 303 and an outer bulb 304 in common withthe networked light bulb 300. The indentation 305 with a slot 306 and anaperture 307 may still be in place even though they are not used by thenon-networked light bulb 320. A plug or a sticker to cover the slot 306and aperture 307 may be put in place to keep foreign material fromentering the light bulb 320. In another embodiment, the non-networkedlight bulb 320 may utilize a different tool to make a different versionof the middle housing, without any slot or aperture. The networkedcontroller circuit board 207 and its associated components are notincluded in the non-networked light bulb 320.

In this embodiment, the LED driver circuit board 310 is mountedvertically in the base of the non-networked light bulb 320. In the samemanner as it is mounted in the networked light bulb 300. The LED board314 has a plurality of LEDs 313 mounted on it and is backed by a heatsink 315 to cool the plurality of LEDs 313. In some embodiments the LEDboard 314 with a plurality of LEDs 313 may be replaced by a singlemulti-die LED package or a single high output LED. In some embodimentsthe heat sink 315 may not be needed or could be a completely differentconfiguration than what is shown. The LED driver circuit board 310 andthe LED board 314 may be identical to those used in the networked lightbulb 300. A cable 312 connects the LED driver circuit board 310 with theLED board 314. The cable 312 carries the power for the plurality of LEDs313.

FIG. 3E shows a cross-section of a partially assembled network lightbulb 350 to show how one embodiment includes a support structure toposition and hold an electronics module, in this case the networkedcontroller circuit board 207. The partial assembly may include an Edisonscrew fitting base 308 with the power contact 301, isolated from theneutral contact 302 by an insulator 353. The middle housing 303 isattached to Edison screw fitting base 308. In this embodiment, screwthreads 354 on middle housing 303 and Edison screw fitting base 308 areused to attach the two pieces together. The LED driver circuit board 310(shown without components mounted), is attached to the power contact 301using a power wire 351 and to the neutral contact 302 using a neutralwire 352. The LED driver circuit board 310 may be held in place indifferent ways in different embodiments such as board guides, pottingcompound, or adhesive. It is assembled into the middle housing 303 sothat the board-to-board connection 311 is in the proper place to allowthe networked controller circuit board 207 to make contact with theboard-to-board connection 311 when it is mounted in the subassembly. Inthis embodiment, the middle housing 303 has a ledge 355 having an innerdiameter smaller than the networked controller circuit board 207 so thatthe networked controller circuit board 207 can sit on the ledge 355 andnot slide further into the middle housing 303. The ledge 355 may havescrew holes at locations that line up with notches in the networkedcontroller circuit board 207 so that screws 356 may be used to hold thenetworked controller circuit board 207 in place. The networkedcontroller circuit board 207 may have a plurality of components mountedon it including, but not limited to, the color wheel 221. The colorwheel 221 in this embodiment slides into the slot and aperture in theindentation 305 of the middle housing 303.

FIG. 3F shows a top view 360 of the network controller circuit board 207(with all components remove)d mounted into the middle housing 303. Inthis embodiment, the networked controller circuit board 207 issubstantially round in shape and, from the top, the middle housing 303is also round with the exception of the indentation 305 on one sidewhich intrudes somewhat into the interior. The networked controllercircuit board 207 sits on the ledge 355 in the middle housing 303 and isheld in place in this embodiment with three screws 356 at attachmentpoints, the screw holes in the ledge 355. Other embodiments may useother attachment means including, but not limited to clips, glue,snap-in detents or tabs.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the control electronics 400 used in thenetworked light bulb 300. While the following discussion directedprimarily at the embodiment of a networked light bulb 300 the sameprinciples and concepts can be applied by one skilled in the art to anyother networked device. The block diagram is divided into three sections410, 420, 430 corresponding to the three printed circuit boards of FIG.3. Other embodiments may partition the system differently and have moreor fewer printed circuit boards or circuit elements. The three sectionsare the LED Driver section 410 corresponding to the LED driver circuitboard 310, the networked controller section 420 corresponding to thenetworked controller circuit board 207, and the LED section 430corresponding to the LED board 314, The base with contacts 301, 302provides AC power to the AC to DC rectifier 411 to power the LED driver412. The LED driver may be an integrated circuit such as the NXP SSL2101or similar parts from Texas Instruments or others. Several signals areshared in common between the LED driver section 410 and the networkedcontroller section 420 through a board-to-board connection 311. Theboard-to-board connection 311 may be a pin and socket connector system,an edge finger connector system, soldered right angle pins, a cable, orany other method of connecting two boards. The shared signals comprise aground connection, the LED power signal 441, a regulated power voltage442, a control signal 443 and a serial communication signal 444. In someembodiments, the regulated power voltage 442 may be sufficient to powerall the electronics in the networked controller section 420. In otherembodiments, where more power is needed, a DC to DC converter may beincluded in the networked controller section 420 running off the LEDpower signal 441. The ground signal and the LED power signal 441 arethen sent from the networked controller section 420 to the LED section430 over cable 312. The LED section 430 may have a plurality of LEDs 313powered by the LED power signal 441. The LED driver section 410 and LEDsection 430 could correspond to other sections that transform andconsume electrical power or perform operations of a different embodimentof a networked device 300, such as the heating element of a networkedcoffee maker, under the control of the networked controller section 420.

The networked controller section 420 may have a wireless network adapter422 that receives radio frequency signals through antenna 425 and isconnected to controller 421 by a digital bus 423. In some embodiments,the wireless network adapter 422 may connect to a Z-wave, Zigbee (IEEE802.15.4) or Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) wireless network. Other embodiments mayuse a wired or power line network adapter instead of a wireless networkadapter. In some embodiments, the controller 421 is implemented as amicrocontroller and in some embodiments, the controller 421, wirelessnetwork adapter 422, and digital bus 423 may be integrated onto a singlechip 424 such as the Zensys ZM3102. In some embodiments a timer or clockfunction is included in the networked controller 420. A user interface,such as a color selection mechanism 428, is also connected to thecontroller 421 providing rotational position information through anelectrical connection 426. In other embodiments a user interface may beprovided using other means such as a graphical user interface on adisplay or a keypad or buttons or any other device or combination ofdevices that allows the user to make a selection and provide informationon the selection to the controller 421. A non-volatile memory 426 alsomay be included in the networked controller section 420. Thenon-volatile memory 426 can be a flash memory, an EPROM, abattery-backed up RAM, a hard drive, or any other sort of memory devicethat retains its contents through a power cycle. The non-volatile memory426 can be implemented as a single integrated circuit, a set ofintegrated circuits, a block of memory cells integrated with anotherfunction such as the controller 421 or the wireless network adapter 422or any other implementation. The non-volatile memory 426 is connected tothe controller through a digital connection 427. The digital connectioncould be an I2C bus, an SPI bus, a parallel connection, an internal buswithin an integrated circuit, or any other electrical connections means,using a standard or proprietary protocol.

In some embodiments, the controller 421 controls the brightness of theplurality of LEDs 313 by driving the control signal 443 back to the LEDdriver 412. In one embodiment the controller 421 may simply drive thecontrol signal 443 low to turn the plurality of LEDs 313 on and drivethe control signal 443 high to turn the plurality of LEDs 313 off. Inother embodiments, the controller 421 may drive the control signal 443with a pulse-width modulated signal to control the brightness of theplurality of LEDS 313. In some embodiments, the LED driver section 410is designed to accept power that has been controlled by a standardthyristor-based light dimmer which varies the phase where the AC poweris active. This can interact with the dimming control taking place overthe network. To determine the current dimming level of the LEDs 313, thenetworked controller section 420 may, in some embodiments, includecircuitry to monitor the LED power signal 441 to determine the amount ofdimming taking place. In other embodiments, the controller 421 maycommunicate with the LED driver 412 over the serial communicationssignal 444 to query and perhaps override the current dimming level. Theserial communication signal 444 may also be used to communicate thecurrent operating condition of the networked light bulb 300, actualmeasured power used if the additional circuitry to measure power isincluded in the networked light bulb 300, color temperature control,device temperature information or any other status or controlinformation that might need to be communicated between the controller421 and the LED driver 412 in a particular embodiment. The serialcommunication signal 444 may be implemented with a unidirectional or abidirectional communication protocol such as RS-232, I2C, USB, SPI orany other standard or proprietary protocol. In some embodiments, it maybe a multi-pin communication link utilizing serial or parallelcommunication protocols.

FIG. 5 shows the mechanical drawings 500, 510 of printed circuit boardsfor a particular embodiment of the networked light bulb 300. Mechanicaldrawing 500 is for an embodiment of the LED driver circuit board 310used for the LED driver section 410. The exact shape and dimensions mayvary in different embodiments but the dimensions for one embodiment aregiven here. The width 511 is 26 mm. The overall height 514 is 47 mm withthe distance 516 from the bottom to the notches at 19 mm and thedistance 515 from the notches to the top at 28 mm. The width 512 at thebottom is 18 mm with a notch width 513 on both sides of 4 mm. The LEDdriver circuit board 310 has two connection points, TP28 517 and TP29518 that are used to connect to the power contact 301 and neutralcontact 302 of the base 301. At the opposite end of the LED drivercircuit board 310 is the connection J24 519 for the board-to-boardconnection 311. In this embodiment, 5 contacts are provided and a rightangle 2.54 mm spacing header is used. The LED driver circuit board 310consistent with mechanical drawing 500 can be installed into a partiallyassembled light bulb with the base and middle housing 303. Someembodiments might include contacts for the cable 314 to the LED board314 but in this embodiment, the cable 312 can be directly soldered toconnection points 4 and 5 of J24 519 if no networked controller circuitboard 207 will be used.

Mechanical drawing 500 is for an embodiment of the networked controllercircuit board 207. It is substantially round in shape to fit best withinthe shape of a conventional light bulb. The exact dimensions may varybetween embodiments, but for one embodiment the diameter 501 is 34 mm.The outline of the board 500 has three semicircular cutouts 502 locatedat 120 degree spacing around the board 500, each semi-circular cutouthaving a diameter of about 3.5 mm. One possible placement of keycomponents is shown. Connections 503 to an external antenna andconnections 505 for the cable 312 to the LED board 314 could move todifferent locations in different embodiments. Some embodiments may useprinted circuit antenna directly on the networked controller circuitboard 207 and may not need an external antenna connection 503. Thelocation for the rotary switch 206 is determined by the exact dimensionsof the color wheel 221 so that the edge 202 can properly protrudethrough the slot 306 and a section of the colored area can be seenthrough the aperture 307. Some embodiments may incorporate differentuser interface means and not need a rotary switch 206 at all but thisembodiment locates it at the SW1 location 504. The location 509 for theJ25 board-to-board connection 311 on the networked controller circuitboard 207 is shown. Its exact location is determined by theboard-to-board connection 311 means chosen for a particular embodimentto allow the common signals 441-442 make the connection between the LEDdriver circuit board 310 and the networked controller circuit board 207.

FIGS. 6A and 6B together constitute a schematic for one particularembodiment of a LED driver circuit board. The first schematic section600 and the second schematic section 601 have 6 connections in common.Two connections are explicitly shown with connectors A 602 and B 603.The other connections are implicitly shown using signal names VCC, GND,LED_CNTRL and PWM_Limt. The schematic 600, 601 uses industry standardsymbols and component designations which are used in the following highlevel discussion of the schematic 600, 601. Low level details are notdiscussed so as to not obfuscate the overall functionality as theyshould be easily understood by one skilled in the art. AC power comes inat TP28 and TP29 and is then rectified using a full-wave rectifier D1.The rectified power is fed into U1, a switched mode power supplycontroller IC that operates in combination with a phase cut dimmerdirectly from rectified mains. It is designed to drive LED devices. Thedevice includes a high-voltage power switch and a circuit to allowstart-up directly from the rectified mains voltage. Furthermore thedevice includes high-voltage circuitry to supply the phase cut dimmer.The device used in this embodiment is an integrated circuit from NXPcalled the SSL2101. The data sheet of the NXP SSL2101, revision 04,released Aug. 28, 2009 © NXP B.V. 2009, is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety. Application note AN10754, revision 03,released Oct. 16, 2009© NXP B.V 2009 gives application information onthe use of the NXP SSL2101 and is herein incorporated by reference inits entirety. U1 utilizes a flyback circuit with T3 as the flybacktransformer to isolate the LED drive signals LED+ and LED− from the ACmains. U1 uses its Drain pin to control the flyback circuit and therebythe brightness of the LEDs 313. U1 directly generates a VCC voltage atpin 3. The VCC voltage can vary depending on the current brightnesslevel of the LED drive signals but will be less than 40V. The SSL 2101has two control inputs: a BRIGHTNESS input that controls the outputfrequency and a PWMLIMIT pin the controls the on-time of the switch. TheBRIGHTNESS input is driven from LED_CTRL which is the control signal 443from the networked controller board 207. If LED_CTRL is high, transistorQ5 is turned on the BRIGHTNESS input is pulled to ground putting theoutput frequency down to fmin. Q5 also pulls PWMLIMIT low through a 10kΩ resistor. Those two conditions drive the LED drive to its minimumlevel effectively turning the LEDs 313 off. The additional circuitry onthe second page of the schematics 601 monitors the duty cycle of the LEDdrive signal and drives and optically isolated PWM_Limt signal back intothe PWMLIMIT pin of the SSL2101. This allows the SSL2101 to dim the LEDsin response to a thyrister based dimmer on the incoming AC line. Theboard-to-board connection 311 is accomplished by soldering a right angleheader into connector J24 with the VCC, Ground, LED_CTRL, LED+ and LED−signals to connect to the networked controller board 310 in thisembodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic for the LED board 314. In this embodiment, theLED board 314 has five high power white LEDs connected in series betweenthe LED+ and LED− signals.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B show two different embodiments of a networkedcontroller board 207. FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a Z-wave networkedcontroller board 207 and FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a Zigbeenetworked controller board 207. Both boards have a debugging port J23for use during development and test that has signals specific to eachembodiment. Both boards also have a BCD encoded rotary switch SW1 foruser entered configuration information. Each of the four outputs is aswitch that is either open circuit or is connected to the common pins.In this embodiment, the common pins are tied to 3.3V and each output hasa separate resistor to ground. The four outputs are named DIP_NO1,DIP_NO2, DIP_NO4 and DIP_NO8. Both boards also have the same connectionto the shared signals 441-444 through connector J25. Since the VCCsignal from the shared pins can vary widely, both boards have a DC-DCconverter U3 that uses a resistor R36 with the value of 332 kΩ to causethe U3 to generate a 3.3V regulated DC signal. The Zigbee board 801 alsorequires 1.8V so a second DV-DC converter U4 is included in this designusing a resistor R38 with the value of 182 kΩ to create a 1.8V regulatedDC signal.

The Z-wave design 800 uses a Zensys ZM3102N module U2 based on theZensys ZW0301 integrated circuit. The data sheet for the ZW301 Z-Wave™Single Chip Low Power Z-Wave™ Transceiver with Microcontroller, Revision1 and the ZM3102N Datasheet, Integrated Z=Wave RF Module, Oct. 1, 2007,are both herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. It gets3.3V power and uses an RC network using R20 and C25 to generate a resetsignal. The four signals from the BCD rotary switch are routed to GPIOpins P1.7, P1.5, P1.1 and P0.0 to allow the microcontroller inside U2,functioning as the controller 421, to read their state. P1.6/PWM isrouted to ZM_LED_ON_OFF to allow for control the brightness of the LEDby the controller 421. Instructions written for the microcontroller inU2 allow it to implement the Z-wave network protocol as well as anyother functionality required for the specific embodiment of thenetworked light bulb 300.

The Zigbee design 801 uses a SN250 from STMicroelectronics U2. The datasheet for the SN250 Single-chip ZigBee® 802.15.4 solution, revision 3, ©2007 STMicroelectronics Oct. 12, 2007 is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety. It gets both 1.8V and 3.3V power and uses anRC network using R4 and C9 to generate a reset signal. The four signalsfrom the BCD rotary switch are routed to GPIO pins GPIO12, GPIO11,GPIO10, and GPIO9 to allow the microcontroller inside U2, functioning asthe controller 421, to read their state. GPIO0 is routed toZM_LED_ON_OFF to allow for control the brightness of the LED by thecontroller 421. Instructions written for the microcontroller in U2 allowit to implement the Zigbee network protocol as well as any otherfunctionality required for the specific embodiment of the networkedlight bulb 300.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart for a manufacturing process to build twodifferent versions of the networked light bulb. At the start 901 of themanufacturing process, all the various parts required to build thenetworked light bulb 300 are gathered and staged for manufacturing. Asubassembly is created by partially assembling 902 some of thecomponents. In one embodiment, the subassembly comprises the base withcontacts 301 and 302, the middle housing 303 and the LED driver circuitboard 310 with the contacts TP28 and TP29 electrically connected to thecontact 301 and 302 respectively. This leaves the contacts 519 for J24,the board-to-board interconnect 311 at the end of the subassembly awayfrom the base of the networked light bulb 300. A decision 903 then hasto be made as to what kind of light bulb will be built. In this example,the light bulb could be built with a Z-wave networked controller 800, aZigbee networked controller 801 or no networked controller to build anon-networked light bulb 320. In some cases, multiple different versionsof a networked controller circuit board for the same network protocolmay be available for selection to allow for second sourcing of thatcomponent. If a networked controller is chosen 904, 905, it is thenmounted 906 in the top of the partially assembled light bulb. Thesemi-circular cutouts 502 fitting around positioning pins in the middlehousing 303. The contacts 509 are then connected to the contacts 519 onthe LED driver circuit board 310 fitting right angle header into holesin contacts 509 and soldering the two board together. Otherboard-to-board connection means, such as a pin and socket connector, maybe used for other embodiments. Once the networked controller circuitboard 207 has been mounted, or if a non-networked light bulb is beingbuilt, with no networked controller circuit board, the assembly 907 ofthe light bulb is completed. This can included soldering cable 312 tothe networked controller circuit board 207 and the LED board 314 andinstalling the heat sink 315 and the pieces of the outer bulb 304. Onceassembly is completed, in some manufacturing processes, the light bulbis tested. This might include tests targeted at the specific networkingcontroller circuit board 207 selected. The bulb is then marked 908 toindicate the type of bulb, including the protocol supported by thenetworking controller circuit board 207 that has been mounted in thenetworked light bulb 300 or the fact that it is a non-networked lightbulb 310. The marking may take the form of a specific part numberencoded with information about the networking protocol selected or itmay label the bulb with the networking protocol in words from a humanreadable language such as English. It may use trademarked terms for thenetwork such as Zigbee® or may use a technical specification designationsuch as IEEE 802.15.4. Once the manufacturing process has been completed909, the light bulb may be shipped to a customer, held in inventory, orincorporated into a larger assembly before shipping.

FIG. 10 shows a part of an embodiment of a networked light bulb 1000.The power connection is not shown for clarity. The networked controller420, in this embodiment uses the shared serial communication link 444 tocommunicate with the LED driver 1010 which then powers a plurality ofLEDs 1011-1015.

Here, LED's having different spectral maxima are combined in a singlehybrid light to increase the Color Rendering Index. In variousembodiments, multiple LED chips are used and LED wafers are mixed in asingle package. In an embodiment, all wafers are equivalent to a typical2700K incandescent light bulb with a Color Rendering Index of about 85%.

In some embodiments, the LED Driver 1010 provides for separately drivenLED's (as shown) in order to vary the proportions of light originatingfrom the LED's. And, in some embodiments, varying the warm 1011 and cold1012 color temperature LED's using independent pulse width modulationpower supplies enables a user to control color temperature. Similar useof separate PWM power supplies for red 1013, green 1014 and blue 1015LED's enable a user to vary color hues.

In an embodiment, five different LED's contribute to the light output ofthe hybrid light such that 60% of the of the light is emitted by a 2500K(Warm White) equivalent wafer plus phosphor LED 1011, 30% of the lightis emitted by a 3500K (Cold White) equivalent wafer plus phosphor LED1012, 3.3% of the light is emitted by a red (630 nm) LED 1013, 3.3% ofthe light is emitted by a green (520 nm) LED 1014 and 3.3% of the lightis emitted by a blue (470 nm) LED 1015. Here, the Color Rendering Indexis in a range of about 75 to 85 percent. As will be understood bypersons of ordinary skill in the art, the above color temperatures,wavelengths, and mixing percentages can be varied in concert to achievesimilarly high rendering indexes.

Some embodiments of the networked light bulb 1000 include a fluorescentlamp 1051 such as a compact fluorescent lamp. Here, a fluorescent lamppower block 1050 is interconnected 1001 with networked controller 420and on command, adds its light to that of the LED's. The result ofmixing the fluorescent and LED light is an improved Color RenderingIndex approaching 100.

In operation, the networked light bulb 111-117, 300, 1000 can operate asa simple replacement for an incandescent bulb or it can be set tooperate as a member of a network such as a home automation network.Where the networked light bulb 111-117, 300,000 is operating in anetwork, its networked controller 420 provides for exchanginginformation with the network 130. Commands received from the networkenable one or more of the networked light bulb's 111-117, 300, 1000light sources 313, 1011-1015, 1051 to be operated at one or more levelsof light output to enable control of light intensity, color renderingindex and color hue among other things.

Information available to the hybrid light may include energyconsumption, estimated lifetime, color wheel identification and datainherent to the device that it may make available to other devices onthe network. In an embodiment, another connected device such as agateway device 124 relays a request from a personal computer 140 to thenetworked light bulb 111-117, 300, 1000 for energy consumption data. Insome embodiments, the hybrid light transmits predetermined data items toanother connected device such as a personal computer 140 on a regularbasis.

FIG. 14 shows a ventilation scheme for a light bulb 1100. Light bulbsutilizing LEDs have to keep the LED die cool to maximize lifetime andstabilize their light output. The heat sing 315 is one part of a coolingsolution but in order for the heat sink 315 to work, a flow of air mustbe provided to carry heat away from the heat sink 315 by convection. Oneembodiment of the light bulb 1100 has a base with contacts 301, 302, amiddle housing 303 and an outer bulb 304. The outer bulb 304 of thisembodiment is made up of two parts, the lower section 1101 and the uppersection 1102. The lower section 1101 may be made of a transparent,partially transparent, or an opaque material and has ventilation holes1111 around its outer surface to allow air to flow through. The uppersection 1102 is made of a transparent or partially transparent materialand it also has ventilation holes 1112 around its outer surface to alloware to flow through. The area 1103 of the upper section most distantfrom the base is kept free from ventilation holes 1102. This is donebecause most of the light is transmitted through this area of the outerbulb 304 and ventilation holes 1112 could cause shadows or other unevenlighting. The ventilation holes 1111, 1112 allow air to flow through theouter bulb 304, over the heat sink 315, allow convection to cool theLEDs.

If the light bulb is designed in the modular fashion discussed above,different versions of the light bulb can be assembled from a common setof parts. Such versions may include (a) a non-networked light bulb, (b)a networked light bulb with a first design of a first networkedcontroller circuit board 207 containing a networked control section 420supporting a first networking protocol, (c) a networked light bulb witha second, unique, design of a first networked controller circuit board207 containing a networked control section 420 supporting the firstnetworking protocol, (d) a networked light bulb with a first networkedcontroller circuit board 207 containing a networked control section 420supporting a second networking protocol, (e) a light bulb (networked ornon-networked) with a different LED board 314 containing a different setof LEDs 313 that may be made up with a different selection of warm white1011, cold white 1012, red 1013, green 1014 and blue 1015 LEDs, (f) alight bulb (networked or non-networked) with a different LED driversection 1010 and different LED board 314 containing a differentselection of warm white 1011, cold white 1012, red 1013, green 1014 andblue 1015 LEDs, or many other versions utilizing common components.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities ofelements, optical characteristic properties, and so forth used in thespecification and claims are to be understood as being modified in allinstances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to thecontrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the precedingspecification and attached claims are approximations that can varydepending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by thoseskilled in the art utilizing the teachings of the present invention. Atthe very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of thedoctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numericalparameter should at least be construed in light of the number ofreported significant digits and by applying ordinary roundingtechniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameterssetting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, thenumerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported asprecisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently containscertain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviations foundin their respective testing measurements.

The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numberssubsumed within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3,3.80, 4, and 5).

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an elementdescribed as “an LED” may refer to a single LED, two LEDs or any othernumber of LEDs. As used in this specification and the appended claims,the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or”unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

As used herein, the term “coupled” includes direct and indirectconnections. Moreover, where first and second devices are coupled,intervening devices including active devices may be located therebetween.

Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for”performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specifiedfunction, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause asspecified in 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. In particular the use of “step of” inthe claims is not intended to invoke the provision of 35 U.S.C. §112,¶6.

The description of the various embodiments provided above isillustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, itsapplication, or uses. Thus, variations that do not depart from the gistof the invention are intended to be within the scope of the embodimentsof the present invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the intended scope of the present invention.

1. A method of manufacturing a lighting apparatus, the methodcomprising: defining a mechanical form factor with a minimum set ofelectrical connections for a networking module; building a subassemblyof the networked lighting apparatus, the subassembly comprisingattachment points compatible with the mechanical form factor for thenetworking module and contacts for the minimum set of electricalconnections for the networking module; installing a networking moduleinto the subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus andelectrically attaching the minimum set of electrical connectionsprovided by the networking module to the contacts for the minimum set ofelectrical connections on the subassembly, the networking modulecompatible with a selected networking protocol for the networkedlighting apparatus; completing the final assembly of the networkedlighting module; and marking the networked lighting apparatus toindicate the selected networking protocol for the networked lightingapparatus.
 2. The method of manufacturing the lighting apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the lighting apparatus is a networked light bulb.
 3. Themethod of manufacturing the lighting apparatus of claim 1 wherein thelighting apparatus is a networked light fixture.
 4. The method ofmanufacturing the lighting apparatus of claim 1, the networking modulefurther comprising a user input device accessible to the user through anopening in an outer casing of the lighting apparatus.
 5. The method ofmanufacturing the lighting apparatus of claim 1 wherein the selectednetworking protocol is a networking protocol using radio frequencycommunication.
 6. The method of manufacturing the lighting apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the lighting apparatus can function without thenetworking module installed. 7-15. (canceled)
 16. A modular, networkedlight bulb comprising: at least one LED; means for connecting to an ACpower source; means for driving the at least one LED; means forsupporting and holding in place an electronics module conforming with apredetermined form factor; means for allowing the electronics module tocontrol at least a brightness level of the at least one LED; and anetworked controller conforming with the predetermined form factor;wherein the networked controller is configured to connect to a network;the networked controller is positioned and held by said means forsupporting and holding in place an electronics module, the networkedcontroller is configured to use said means for allowing the electronicsmodule to control at least a brightness level of the at least one LED tocontrol the brightness level of the at least one LED; and the modularnetworked light bulb is externally marked to identify a network protocolsupported by the networked controller.
 17. The modular networked lightbulb of claim 16 wherein the networked controller supports a networkprotocol utilizing radio frequency communication.
 18. The modularnetworked light bulb of claim 16, the networked controller comprising: acircuit board, and a user input device accessible to the user through anopening in an outer casing of the modular light emitting apparatus. 19.The modular networked light bulb of claim 18 wherein the circuit boardis substantially circular in shape.